Cooking Videos: Healthy Recipes Made In Minutes

Over the past few years there has been great strides in raising awareness of healthy eating. Fast food restaurants have started to include the amount of calories for each of its menu items. British chef Jamie Oliver came to America to elevate people’s awareness about nutrition and eating healthy on his show Food Revolution. Last year, sugary drinks and sodas sold in anything larger than 16-ounce containers were officially banned in New York City. Still, many of us may be struggling to stay on track with a popular New Year’s resolution: Cook and eat healthier.

While we learn more and more about nutrition, eating healthy can still be challenging. The good news is that cooking healthy meals are getting easier and easier, thanks to a variety of online cooking videos. Whether you want to expand your knowledge of nutrition, discover healthy crock-pot recipes, or learn how to make food that you can put in the freezer the cooking videos in this roundup can help.

COOKING VIDEOS: A HEALTHY START

Healthy cooking doesn’t have to be boring. If you’ve watched any videos on YouTube then you know there’s such a large variety of talent, that with a little searching you can find a healthy cooking video that’s fun, informative, and helpful. For those who want some humor along with a solid healthy recipe check out Cookus Interruptus. The site is full of cooking tips, healthy recipes for even the pickiest of eaters, and best of all the videos are fun to watch. Watch the video to learn “How To Cook Vegetable Yaki Soba” and have a meal in minutes:

Not sure what you want to make, but know that it needs to be a healthy recipe? Check out the Cooking Light Channel on YouTube. The channel has loads of information including basics like how to defrost meat, how to create lighter versions of delicious sweets, and plenty of healthy recipe demonstrations. If the name Cooking Light sounds familiar, it should, it’s also a popular magazine and website dedicated to – well, cooking light.

Maybe you know what you want: burger and fries. Too bad the typical burger and fries is loaded with calories and can leave you feeling a bit lethargic once you’re done eating it. You can still have all your favorite foods, just look for healthier versions. Check out the Recipe Rehab video series found on the Everyday Health Channel on YouTube. Watch how two chefs come up with healthy recipe alternatives for burger and fries:

A MEAL THAT COOKS ITSELF: HEALTHY CROCK-POT RECIPES

Not much of a cook, but want a home cooked meal? I bet you didn’t know that some all time popular home-cooked meals, such as pot roast and chili, owe their wonderful taste to the power of the slow cooker. That’s right, the crock-pot is a kitchen whiz and the best part is that it requires minimal work to make a great meal. Seriously, most crock-pot recipes require you to combine a bunch of ingredients in the crock-pot, turn it on, and leave it alone for hours.

If you’ve never used a crock-pot before, check out these tips from the For Dummies YouTube channel. It may be called slow cooking, but it’s pretty fast prep time. Now, get started with an easy and healthy crock-pot recipe for chili loaded with vegetables and seasoning from Whole Foods:

COOK ONCE, EAT ALL WEEK WITH HEALTHY FREEZER RECIPES

After a long day at work, who has the time or energy to cook a meal when they get home? Not to worry. Just by setting aside a couple of hours over the weekend you can make all your meals ahead of time and then freeze them. When you get home, just pull that home-cooked meal out of the freezer and heat it up. Voila! You’ve got a great tasting and healthy meal ready in minutes.

Check out Katie Lee’s freezer cooking tips and how to prepare a breaded chicken cutlet, and vegetarian lasagna spirals in advance. When you make many of a single food item at once, you can package them in a way that works best for your lifestyle.

Thankfully, there are tons of healthy freezer recipe videos available on YouTube to get you started. Check out this How To Make Lean Cuisines cooking video by Nikki Dinki to see how to make plenty of meals for the whole week ahead of time. It’s a great way to cut back on the sodium found in pre-packaged frozen meals, but just as fun to eat.

Don’t like any of the meals prepared in these cooking videos? Not to worry. Perform a video search, by typing in what you want to eat and add “freezer recipe” to it. You’ll be amazed at the results you get.

COOKING VIDEOS LOADED WITH HEALTHY TIPS

Maybe you’re not ready to delve deep into the world of cooking videos. In addition to plenty of healthy cooking videos online, there are also videos that focus on nutritious tips and provide useful information about the benefits of chocolate and how to easily get more fiber in your diet. The HealthiNation YouTube Channel is loaded with videos providing exactly that type of information.

Once you find videos you like download and save them in RealPlayer, so you can watch them while you cook even if you don’t have an Internet connection. If you don’t have RealPlayer, click the orange button in the top right corner of this page to get it free.

About The Author

Joni Blecher, RealPlayer Blog Editor - Joni started covering technology back when cell phones didn't have color displays and quickly made a name for herself in the mobile industry as CNET's "Cell Phone Diva." In addition to covering everything mobile, she has launched and edited multiple blog sites. When Joni started appearing in product review videos, she fell in love with the story-telling format and honed her video skills to include producing and editing videos. Joni has made appearances on CNN, BBC, CNBC's Bulls Eye, and Good Day New York to discuss the latest in technology. When she's not spending her time writing or shooting video you can find her exploring and tasting the latest food trends.
Follow her on Twitter @JoniBlecher